The Nightmare
by Random Flyer
Summary: Looking Glass AU. Drabble fluff. Naruto has a nightmare. Please R&R.


A/N: Here's a small Christmas present for everyone. Just a short drabble and some fluff to finish off your holiday. Enjoy!

I do not own Naruto.

 **The Nightmare**

Minato lay still, apparently sound asleep at the late hour of night, and listened to his bedroom door as it inched open with painful reluctance. The intruder hovered in the doorway, shifting from one foot to another just on the verge of the threshold. The light creak of the floor and hesitant approach left no wonder over who was visiting so late in the night. Minato lifted his head, frowning in the dark room at the familiar disheveled figure.

"Naruto, what are you doing up so late?" Minato asked. He pushed the kunai he'd slipped into his hand on first waking back into its hiding place. "Is everything alright?" The Hokage frowned noting the lack of Kyūbi's chakra in the air or surrounding his son. It had been well over a month since the latent Kyūbi chakra had been sealed in Minato's own former student, Rin. There had been no signs of any problems for Naruto since then. The boy could get angry, use chakra, and even go outside without any sign of the Kyūbi's chakra leaking in or out much to everyone's relief.

Naruto's dark form shifted from one foot to the next again, this time rocking back on his heels to look down the hall toward the neighboring room, Naruto's own bedroom.

Minato pushed himself up fully, banishing the last chance of any sleep in the immediate future. "C'mon," Minato said, patting the bed beside him as Naruto lingered in the doorway. "It's alright."

Naruto hesitated one last moment before moving toward the bed. The first step turned into a rush of pattering feet as finally crossing the threshold let loose a flurry of movement. Naruto slowed at the bed with a final moment of hesitation but Minato moved to the side giving Naruto more room. Naruto climbed up onto the mattress then under the covers as Minato held the up for his son in the chilled night air.

Wrapping an arm around Naruto, Minato pulled him closer only just now feeling the minor tremors running through Naruto's limbs. "What's wrong?" Minato asked again, voice firm.

A long moment of silence followed as the two of them sat there, Naruto's breath quicker than normal and Minato patiently waiting for it to slow and the tremors to cease. "It was…" Naruto started but faded off, breathing picking up again.

"A bad dream?" Minato finished for him, taking a stab in the dark. He felt Naruto nod against him. Relief washed through him. It was just a dream, nothing to do with the Kyūbi. A bad dream, even a true one, was easier to deal with than a constant threat of uncontrolled bijū chakra.

Naruto's breathing hitched again, more ragged than before and not slowing down. Minato tightened his hold on his son. "Do you want to try and tell me about it?" Minato asked, then continued when he felt the eight year old shake his head, "Sometimes talking about bad dreams stops them from coming back."

One heavy, shaking breath passed, then a second. "It…it was that night, when we went to catch the Kyūbi chakra," Naruto said, voice barely a whisper. "When they…when Rin-neesan had to…" The voice faded and the ragged breathing was back.

"Shh," Minato said, crushing Naruto's shaking form against him and rocking the both. "It's alright."

"But it hurt her so much," Naruto choked out, "And we were only there because…because of…"

Minato stepped in where Naruto faltered. "They, all of them, were there because they cared about you very much and they were willing to take a risk if it meant keeping you safe. Rin, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade all could have stayed at the hospital, but they chose not to because that's what they wanted to do."

Twisting in his spot to look Naruto in the face despite the dim light, Minato placed a hand on both of Naruto's narrow shoulders. "Do you remember what Rin told you right before she left?" Minato asked. He heard about what happened from Jiraiya after he returned from the Other Konoha, no doubt as an attempt to stave off some of Minato's ire at the entire series of events.

Naruto nodded again, the shadowed head bobbing twice. "She said it wasn't my fault…She said I was brave, like a shinobi should be."

"It wasn't your fault," Minato said, sure this conversation would come back another time, probably in the dead of night after another dream. "We care about you very much, Rin included. What she did is proof of that, and I know she would want you to remember that."

Minato paused, watching the dark outline of his son. Naruto's head was turned down staring at the vaguest outline of two small hands fiddling together. "She would want you to be happy. Understand? And to know that no matter what, what happened wasn't your fault."

Another moment passed and Naruto nodded, head still bent down. "But it still happened," he said.

There was no denying that. Minato grimaced at the difficulty of explaining to a child a notion that even adults found impossible to fully accept. "Sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing we can do to change it, but that doesn't mean we give up, alright?"

"Because we're ninjas," Naruto said in voice not quite steady but not broken, speaking as much to himself as to Minato.

"Exactly," Minato said, pulling Naruto forward into a bone-crushing hug. Tiny arms wrapped around Minato responding in kind with as much strength as they could manage. "Do you want to stay here for a bit?" Minato asked and received a silent nod into his shoulder.

Shifting around, Minato moved into a better position half propped up so Naruto could crush up next to him. "Just for tonight and only a little bit," Minato said, though he knew from the wide yawn that broke out of his son the boy would be asleep in minutes. Judging from Minato's own answering yawn he wouldn't be far behind.

Naruto gave an unintelligible mumble in reply, grabbing Minato's wrist and pulling it tighter around him. Minato smiled relieved that they had gotten to the point where Naruto was comfortable waking him up in the night. The bad memories and dreams were a long way from being resolved, but just for tonight, everything was fine.

::The End::


End file.
